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The Daily Express have exclusively reported this morning that Christian Benteke will sign for Liverpool this week, with Brendan Rodgers and club officials agreeing to meet the Belgian’s £32.5m release clause.

Two days ago though, a more believable report in the Daily Mail claimed that despite our strong interest in the Aston Villa striker, we would actually refuse to meet the £32.5m asking price – and the deal had hit a stumbling block as a result.

Benteke is clearly a Liverpool transfer target, but we’d be mightily disappointed if we really did agree to pay such a huge sum for the powerhouse forward.

He bagged a modest 13 Premier League goals last term, which is more in line with a striker worth between £15m and £20m than £32.5m.

If you consider Arsenal signed Alexis Sanchez for £35m from Barcelona last summer (via BBC Sport) and Atletico Madrid have spent £24.8m on Jackson Martinez this summer (via Daily Mail), we really should only be spending this kind of cash on world-class attackers.

If Benteke arrives, it simply cannot be for such a jaw-dropping fee. Luckily, we think the Express exclusive has been conjured from thin air.